News

The Star Wars RPG Database is reporting that the previously announced Creatures of the Galaxy book has changed names, format, and release date to be even better! Here's their report:

The previously announced "Creatures of the Galaxy" will not be coming out. Nor will "Denizens of the Galaxy." Contrary to rumor, nor will there be two separate books about Star Wars creatures and aliens released by WotC for the 'Star Wars Roleplaying Game.'

What WILL be coming out is "Alien Anthology," a 128-page full color book. It covers creatures and aliens drawn from the movies, novels, comic books, and game material. Many of the aliens featured are being expounded upon for the first time in official game material.

"Alien Anthology" is slated for an October 2001 release. It was written by Steve Miller and Owen K.C. Stephens, and edited by Brian Campbell and Cory Herndon. Illustrations are by Sam Wood & Co.

A little more information about the next issue of Star Wars Gamer has come in the form of the cover of the magazine and some excellent insider information from Star Wars RPG author Steve Miller. Here's what he had to say about the issue:

I think SW Gamer #2 is a vast improvement over #1... the fiction's better, the game articles are better [well, MY short story in #1 is unmatched... ;-)]...overall, it's just BETTER.

And the same is true of #3. I got an advanced look at a copy of it this morning. Cory Herndon's written a GREAT expansion of the droid rules in the core rule book--more droids, official droid PC guidelines; there are some great starport maps; and the starfighter rules using the 'Silent Death' game mechanics are also neat. (And even if you don't want to use those rules, there are some great counters of TIE fighters and such.) And in #3, there are game stats that tie to the short story (!)... we had 'em for #1, but they were web downloads, or hidden in the computer game section.

If #4 continues to show the same upward trend of improvement we've been seeing, it'll be better than I can imagine.

That information, combined with the news of the Darth Bane short story, make this magazine an issue I can't wait to pick up. Issue #3 should be hitting newsstands around March 19, and if you happen to get the issue via subscription before then, don't hesitate to e-mail us with a report.
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"Bane of the Sith"
Kevin To Do New Star Wars Short Story: The Origin of Darth Bane

Many fans have written to ask when Kevin will return to the Star Wars universe with more original fiction. You have only to wait until March for a 5000-word short story, never before published, in issue #3 of the Star Wars Gamer magazine (on newsstands March 19).

The new story, "Bane of the Sith," is set a thousand years before Episode 1, and tells the origin of Darth Bane, an evil Sith Lord who changed the nature of dark-side followers forever. This story provides a bridge between the Tales of the Jedi History and The Phantom Menace and also acts as a springboard for a new Dark Horse Comics series, Jedi vs. Sith.